According to the Vermont Department of Health 2009 Youth Risk Behavior survey, 24 percent of those surveyed who identified as gay and 21 percent of those who identified as bisexual attempted suicide. These figures are based on hospitalization following an attempted suicide.
According to Erika M. Edwards, M.P.H., at the Division of Health Surveillance for the Vermont Department of Health, in Windham County, out of 1,516 students surveyed, 23 percent of those who identified as LBGTQ attempted to commit suicide compared with 3 percent of those who identified as heterosexual, at least once in the previous 12 months. A larger number - 34 percent - of LGBTQ-identified students had a plan for suicide, compared to 7 percent of heterosexuals.
Edwards noted:
• 30 percent of Windham County students who identified as LGBTQ reported being bullied at least once in the past 30 days, compared to 14 percent of Windham County students who identified as heterosexual;...
The Democratic candidates for state senate have been put on the defensive over issues such as Vermont Yankee, health care reform, education funding and taxation. However, incumbent Sen. Jeanette White of Putney and former Ambassador Peter Galbraith of Townshend say they believe a majority of Windham County's voters will...
For many, the high school years are an emotional minefield. Some manage to navigate it successfully. Others are scarred for life by the experience. And for those who do not identify as heterosexual, the high school years can be pure hell. The recent spate of news coverage of the...
The future of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon has overshadowed almost every other issue in this year's political campaigns in Windham County. And no race in the county has been more heated in regards to VY than the Windham-1 House race between Republican Mike Hebert of Vernon and Democrat Richard Davis of Guilford. Hebert and Davis are running for the seat being vacated by Republican Patricia O'Donnell of Vernon, who is stepping down after 12 years in...
The House race in the Windham-6 district features incumbent Democrat Richard Marek, who is seeking his fifth term, against Republican Gaila Gulack, for whom this race marks her first foray into politics. Both say they have the ears of voters and understand the needs of the residents in the district's towns of Marlboro, Newfane and Townshend. “In Vermont, we make an attempt to hear what people have to say by taking lots of testimony [in the Legislature] and it often...
The three candidates for the two positions of assistant judge in Windham County are in the awkward position of running for a job for which most of its duties have been removed. Larry Robinson, a Newfane Republican, and Democratic newcomer Joseph Spano of Brattleboro are running, as is incumbent Democrat Patricia Duff of Brattleboro. The other current assistant judge, Mary Ann Clarkson, is stepping down. It used to be that assistant judges - or side judges, as they are often...
I strongly encourage the voters of Athens, Brookline, Grafton, Rockingham, Windham and a portion of North Westminster to exercise your right to vote on Nov. 2. I humbly ask for your consideration and vote on Election Day and also suggest that you consider using your “early voting” option by contacting your town clerk. I offer my experience, leadership, caring dedication, and hard work if I am re-elected. We face many challenges this coming biennium, including building a balanced, responsible budget;
Want to reduce home energy use, but not sure where to start? Tired of cold or drafty spots around your house? Wondering what resources are available to help make efficiency improvements? You'll learn about all this and more by attending a free Button Up Vermont workshop on Saturday, Nov. 6 from 9-11:30 a.m. at the Brattleboro Union High School multipurpose room, 131 Fairground Rd. Brattleboro Climate Protection and the Windham Regional Career Center will host this session, one of the...
Early/absentee ballots for the general election and Special Town Meeting to be held on Tuesday, Nov. 2, are available in the Town Clerk's office. Anyone wishing to vote prior to Nov. 2 may apply for an early/absentee ballot until 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 1. Early/absentee ballots may be voted in person in the clerk's office, mailed to the voter by the clerk's office, picked up by the voter or delivered to the voter's residence by two justices of the...
An open letter to state Rep. Patty O'Donnell [“Please stop helping us,” Viewpoint, The Commons, Oct. 20]: I lived next door to a plumber for 30 years, but I certainly don't know plumbing “from the 'inside' and know it well.” Russian planes used to fly over Sarah Palin's house, but she doesn't know foreign policy. So I won't be asking you questions about nuclear safety, and I won't be asking the workers either. A bunch of those people lied to...
The last two years of financial turmoil have turned all of our attention to matters of economic health and vitality, as well as financial security. The current gubernatorial campaign has been appropriately focused on matters of how we should encourage growth to provide for an increasing standard of living for all Vermonters. These are not easy matters: Vermonters are not of one mind about what our economy needs to look like for our security or should look like for our...
I'd forgotten to turn on the light at the bottom of the stairs. The garden level of Bliss House between the muted wall light in the stairwell where I stood to the pool of light over my desk sunk into darkness filled with the hulking shapes of file cabinets, a paper cutter and photocopier. It would be a dark walk back to my desk. A door latch clicked behind me. Bliss House, home to SIT Study Abroad, can be a...
Almost every day, I get a call from a parent, a therapist, or a teacher desperately looking for some hope to help a struggling adolescent. The symptoms I hear about vary - poor academic performance, feelings of loneliness, victim of bullying by peers or adults, sadness, depression, persistent non-attendance at school, threats of personal harm. Adolescence can be a tough time, and being in a setting that isn't working for the student, for whatever reason, can make this period of...
Halloween (also known as Samhain, meaning “summer's end”) is an old tradition that most people don't know much about. It has become a time of the year for people to dress up, go to parties and eat candy. Most people practice some form of Halloween, but few know the meaning behind what they do. Samhain comes from the time when people practiced seasonal rites, or sabbats. This time of the year is when the world seems to die - the...
Next summer, the Parks and Recreation department will initiate smoke-free zones in Brattleboro parks. According to Director Carol Lolatte, the department made the decision after discussions with a concerned group of citizens worried about the impact of secondhand smoke on children. For years, says Lolatte, the town has posted signs like “caution, developing lungs at work” around play areas in town to dissuade people from smoking around children. The citizen group, however, said Lolatte felt more needed to be done...
This year's election marks Brattleboro attorney Gwen Harris' fourth run for the position of Windham County State's Attorney. Harris' previous three tries were against longtime incumbent State's Attorney Dan Davis, who retired in September 2007 after 19 years in the position. Tracy Kelly Shriver of Brattleboro, a Democrat, was appointed State's Attorney in October 2007 by Gov. Jim Douglas to replace Davis. Shriver now faces her first election, and Harris believes that her vision of how the county's criminal justice...
Lynn Corum believes that there's safety in numbers. While Hillary Cooke, a Brattleboro insurance consultant, was an early entrant into the Aug. 24 Republican primary for state senate, Corum hadn't planned on running. But as the future of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant became more and more of a campaign issue, Corum was concerned that the Democratic candidates for state senate - incumbent Jeanette White of Putney and former Ambassador Peter Galbraith of Townshend - were controlling the debate.
Music • A “co-opera” on climate change: Save The Secret Of The Seasons will be presented Saturday, Oct. 30, 7– 8:30 p.m., at the River Garden, 157 Main St., Brattleboro. Save the Secret of The Seasons is a participatory musical experience - a “co-opera” - that stimulates audience members to address their relationship to global warming and climate change. Based on songs written by John Ungerleider and Bill Conley for the Copenhagen climate conference in December 2009, the program is...
The regular season for soccer, field hockey and cross country concluded last week. The playoffs will begin this week and several of our local soccer teams have a legitimate shot at going deep into their respective tournaments. Boys soccer • Leland & Gray finished the regular season strong and as a result earned the top seed in the Division III tournament and a bye into the quarterfinals. They started last week with a 3-1 home win over Windsor last Monday.
Obituaries Editor's note: The Commons will publish brief biographical information for citizens of Windham County and others, on request, as community news, free of charge. • Marjorie Marnie Harrington Fjeld, 79, of Tempe, Ariz. Died Oct. 15 at home. Wife of the late Richard Fjeld. Mother of Carter (Skip) Fjeld and his wife, Linda, of Yakama, Wash.; and Eric (Rick) Fjeld and his wife, Kathy, of Tempe. Sister of William Harrington Jr.; Paul Harrington and his wife, Shirley of Bellows...
The town has renewed Town Manager Barbara Sondag's contract until October 2013. At the Selectboard's Oct. 19 meeting, Vice-Chair Dora Bouboulis objected to the two-year renewal on the grounds that no town manager should have more than a one-year contract. Bouboulis felt citizens should have the right to remove someone from office if they were unhappy with an official's performance. She said elected officials like selectboard members could be voted out but voters couldn't remove a town manager, if needed.
WOOL Radio has announced its first audio documentary competition. The station has issued a call for submissions of audio pieces, suitable for airing, about non-fictional topics. Targeted in this effort are the many area people who enjoy listening to stories about people, places, and things by which they learn and are entertained. Many people now have the means to create these stories themselves; recent developments in computer technology have put free recording tools at the disposal of anyone with a...
The Selectboard last week awarded Pizzagalli Construction Co. of South Burlington a $22.5 million contract for the next phase of construction on the Waste Water Treatment Plant Upgrade project. Hoyle Tanner Engineers, the project's consultants, and the Wastewater Treatment Plant Oversight Committee recommended Pizzagalli's $22,500,500 bid to the Selectboard. It is contingent on the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation's authorization. According to Eugene Forbes, senior vice-president of Hoyle Tanner, the town received three bids, opened Sept. 23, of which Pizzagalli's...
Windham Child Care Association Board of Directors has announced the appointment of Elizabeth Raposa to the position of Interim Executive Director following the departure of former Executive Director Sadie Fischesser earlier this month to serve as field director for the Agency of Human Services. Raposa has served the agency in the capacity of director of family programs for the past two years. “We are thrilled Elizabeth accepted this offer,” said Windham Child Care Association Board Chair Jim Maland. “We felt...
There is plenty of scientific data that shows that brain development peaks from birth to age 5. All the behaviors and skills that will determine whether a child will be successful in school, and ultimately successful in the workplace and the community, are determined in those first few years. When children enter kindergarten ready to learn, that policy results in improved high school graduation rates and higher earnings later in life. Early-childhood education also reduces the need for intervention programs...
On Saturday, Oct. 30, the Brattleboro Music Center will present Sophie Shao, one of the leading cellists of her generation, and an ensemble of tremendous virtuosic talent at Centre Congregational Church. Sophie Shao & Friends, including Daniel Phillips, violin, Arnaud Sussmann, violin, Eric Nowlin, viola, Sophie Shao, cello, and Pei-Yao Wang, piano, will perform the first concert in the BMC's 2010-11 Chamber Music Series. The program includes Ravel's Sonata for violin and cello, Elgar's quintet in a minor for piano...
This year, several labor leaders stood in Peter Shumlin's office, seeking help with a bill that passed the House and would ensure people's homes are protected against faulty workmanship, house fires and even death. Shumlin said, “You stood with the enemy [businesses and supporters of Vermont Yankee], and now you're in here asking me for my help? You're [expletive starting with f].” He said this in front of leaders of Vermont labor organizations, including my own. Union leaders must stand...
In the last month, national polls have shown that 3 out of 5 people would prefer supporting a third party to either the Democratic or Republican. In our state, county and town, we have one - the Progressive Party, which stands with regular people on issue after issue, from fair taxation to better schooling to health reform. I'm not running for a really political office like selectboard member or lister or school board member, where I would effect political change,
It seems like such a short while ago that I would have volunteered to work for young Tom Salmon's campaign. I was even one of those Democrats he phoned when he wondered whether he should persist to ask for a recount. At the time I counseled, “Yes, go for it!” After his DWI charge, I even phoned his dad to tell him that I would still support Tom. But I never imagined that Tom would become such a rabid Republican...
I used to look forward to elections. They used to give me hope - but not lately. I know that as soon as the votes are counted and the winners determined for this midterm election, electioneering for the next presidential election cycle is going to begin, and I'm tired of political campaigns. I'm sure I'd feel differently if politicians running for office would discuss the issues we face with honesty and directness. If the media reported the candidates' positions...
On a recent October afternoon, as the sun warmed the air and added brilliance to the landscape, a political candidate went door to door on Main Street in Stamford to meet his constituents, answer questions, and ask for their votes in the upcoming election. He pulled into the driveway at one house and saw a gentleman, Richard Hoyt - a veteran of World War II and the Korean Conflict and a retired New York State Trooper - trying to position...
Eight high school students from Brattleboro's Interfaith Youth Group received scholarships to attend the sixth annual “Connecting for Change: A Bioneers by the Bay Conference,” where solutions to some of the world's most urgent environmental and social problems will be discussed. The conference, a yearly gathering of environmental and social justice advocates, consisted of three days of lectures, workshops, exhibits and an action event aimed at curbing global warming. A unique aspect of the conference was their Youth Initiative, which...
RV79lD xoamrjsgbtkv, [url=http://jcxvzfrlwssy.com/]jcxvzfrlwssy[/url], [link=http://fivatqatciwm.com/]fivatqatciwm[/link], http://mxwtcybgosoo.com/
For ex-offenders released from prison, their first day breathing free air is one of the best days. It can also be one of the hardest. The Brattleboro Community Justice Center hopes community members will gain insight into the obstacles thwarting ex-offenders' successful reintegration into society at a workshop at American Legion Post 5 on Linden Street. The free Oct. 28 workshop will run from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., and simulates four weeks in a new parolee's life. Participants visit different...
Seth Walsh was in the sixth grade in the small town of Tehachapi, Calif., when he came out to his mother. She told him she loved him no matter what. But his peers were not so kind. They taunted him to death, literally. Seth hanged himself. He was 13. Billy Lucas, 15, of Greensburg, Ind. also hanged himself after constant slurs against him by classmates. Asher Brown, 13, who lived near Houston, shot himself as a result of school taunting.
I have been working closely with Valerie Stuart since she won the primary and became the Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives in Brattleboro District 1, the seat I have had the privilege of holding for the past 20 years. I must say that I have been very impressed with her both as a person and as a candidate. Serving as a state representative is a wonderful way to make a difference, if one is willing to listen and...
John Sebastian, the songwriter, singer and storyteller who burst on the scene in the 1960s with the Lovin' Spoonful and is still spreading the gospel of American roots music, will appear at the Latchis Theatre in a benefit concert on behalf of the region's struggling farmers. The Strolling of the Heifers New England Farm Relief concert, featuring Sebastian along with special guest Meg Hutchinson, will take place on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available online via www.brownpapertickets.com,
New England has a long and rich history of ghosts and unexplained events, and the valley around the Great Falls is no different. The Commons chased down a couple of ghost stories and was invited along to photograph spirits. You make up your own mind whether you believe or not. Nancy, who told her tale on the condition that she be identified by her first name, lives in an old Victorian house built in the late 1800s in Bellows Falls...
Entergy Nuclear is the equivalent of a schoolyard bully with deep pockets. Unfortunately for us, the Louisiana-based corporation that operates the Vermont Yankee nuclear power facility chooses to utilize its money and resources to incite fear through manipulative advertising, risky business propositions, and economic threats. Entergy has a history of dishonest and illegal practices. From New England to New Orleans, the energy conglomerate unabashedly pursues profit with little regard for the economic and environmental damage it wreaks. The company's pattern...
I was a bullied gay teen. Those words are still hard for me to say. Not because I am ashamed of being gay. I came out of the closet when I was 18 years old and have never looked back. Those aren't the words that are hard to say. What's hard, 20 years after the fact, is to admit that I was bullied. In a way, coming out as someone who was bullied has in some ways been harder for...
Candidate Peter Shumlin speaks out of both sides of his mouth and thus I find it hard to trust what he says. An excellent example of this in an interview appeared in the Vermont Business Magazine (VBM) October issue. He told VBM that his long-term strategic goal as governor would be “about reviving small businesses, creating jobs, and getting Vermonters back to work, and that's why I'm running.” All very well and an admirable goal. However, midway into the interview,
Say the word “witch” and what comes to mind? Harry Potter? A pointed hat, green face and warts? The crone who tried to cook Hansel and Gretel? Flying on broomsticks? Bewitched? Women dancing around bonfires with the devil? How about healers? Wise elders? Or a religious tradition dating back thousands of years with “first, do no harm” as its primary tenet? “There are a million traditions, but 'do no harm' is what brings them together,” said Stacy Salpietro-Babb, a 34-year-old...
I am supporting Peter Shumlin for Governor for many reasons. One major reason is his unequivocal support of early childhood care and education. I worked in public education my entire career. In my roles as a classroom teacher, special educator, director of the Title I program for Windham Southeast Supervisory Union, and a member of the Vermont State Board of Education, I have been completely convinced of the vital importance of children entering elementary school ready to learn. Current research...
On behalf of the Empty Bowls Steering Committee, I want to thank the hundreds of people and organizations that helped us raise over $24,000 for the Brattleboro Area Drop-In Center this year at our recent dinner. One of the most exciting things about this event is that there are virtually no overhead costs, and at the end of the event, we pack up leftover food to go to the Drop-In Center and leftover bowls to pass on to the Bellows...
With the click of a laptop computer, the future arrived in Brattleboro on Monday. U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy was at the keyboard to fire up a 250-kilowatt generator that takes methane gas from the former Windham Solid Waste Management District landfill on Old Ferry Road and turns it into electricity. Central Vermont Public Service is buying the electricity made at the site, which it estimates is enough to power 300 homes. But that is only the beginning of what Carbon...
Democratic incumbent John Moran and Republican newcomer Geralyn Sniatkowski say they understand their communities in the Windham-Bennington-1 House district of Dover, Readsboro, Searsburg, Somerset, Stamford, and Wardsboro. “We need to be expansive, not restrictive,” if Vermont wants to survive the economic crisis, Moran said. “I have a stake in seeing our community thrive,” Sniatkowski said. If re-elected, Moran will take his third trip to Montpelier. He said the work of a citizen-lawmaker excites him and he enjoys representing the interests...